2 . As the COVID-19 appeared, many people’s life changed.

At the beginning of March 2020, Boylan, a professor of Medicine Jon Bae, went from working onsite to being another role as a health economic analyst(分析家) of Duke University Health System. And a month into the pandemic(流行病), his daughter, Elora, was born. The past two years drew Boylan closer to his wife, Katie, “During the time of the pandemic, I am not one of those people who have time to learn how to bake bread or anything,” Boylan said. “I think, in terms of personal growth, I have learned much about how to live a happy life.”

By October of 2020, the pandemic had lasted for several months, and Melanie Thomas was feeling down. “How do I have a rich and full life during this special time and keep a positive attitude?” Thomas asked herself. She decided that she needed a goal that she could work out until the world opened up. For the next several months, Thomas began running, working out at a socially distant gym, and walked as much as she could every day. While the trip to Nepal was the goal, the exercise to prepare for it became a central piece of herself-care routine.

A few weeks ago, Mary Atkinson began spending the remaining daylight after work setting up a garden in the yard of her Greensboro home. She as well as her two-year-olds on, West, often played there with the sand and his toy truck. “This is something that never happened before the pandemic, and it gives much happiness to us,” said Atkinson.

During the pandemic, John Carbuccia, instead of eating lunch out or grabbing meals in the university canteen, found himself eating homemade breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Scrambled eggs with vegetables or simply prepared salmon fillets are some of his current favorites. And without having to rush to the company, he walks and runs around his neighborhood before and after work at home.

3 . Queen Elizabeth II in her Christmas Day message shared the pain she felt after the death of her husband as she encouraged people everywhere to celebrate with friends and family, despite the grief caused by a pandemic(流行病) now stretching into its second year.

Saying she understood the difficulty of spending the holiday season “with one familiar laugh missing,” the queen delivered her address beside a photograph of Prince Philip, who died in April at age 99. “Although it’s a time of great happiness and good cheer for many, Christmas can be hard for those who have lost loved ones,” the queen said in the prerecorded message broadcast when many British families were enjoying their traditional Christmas dinner. “This year, especially, I understand why.” She added the country still has the great future.

Despite her own loss, the queen said her family was a “source of great happiness”, noting that she had welcomed four great-grandchildren this year. “While COVID again means we can’t celebrate quite as we may have wished, we can still enjoy the many happy things, be it the singing of carols—as long as the tune is well known—decorating the tree, giving and receiving presents or watching a favorite film where we already know the ending,” she said. “It’s no surprise that families so often treasure their Christmas routines.”

As the highly transmissible Omicron coronavirus variant(新冠病毒变种奥密克戎) spreads rapidly across the U.K., the 95-year-old queen has decided not to spend Christmas at Sandringham, the royal estate in eastern England where she traditionally spends the festive season with family. The palace said Monday that the queen would spend the holidays at Windsor Castle, west of London, where she has remained throughout most of the pandemic.

5 . The pandemic (疫情) has thrown challenges at us all in different ways, including children and getting to this point is an achievement in itself.    1     Following are several pieces of advice about how to give your children the best start in September.

Read with your children. Keep their mind active by visiting the local library or bookshop and read a novel together discussing each chapter, trying to predict (预测) what is going to happen next and think about the decisions the characters have made. The action of choosing a book and reading together can have a positive impact on your relationship.    2    . Encourage your child to take part in this year’s fun Summer Reading Challenge.

Spend time together. As a mum, if I have learnt anything during this pandemic, it is the importance of family and supporting each other. So you should spend time together as a family.    3    .

Recognize the year they had during the pandemic. Children’s education was disrupted (中断) during the pandemic and although they have been good at finding ways of doing things and solving problems, it’s important that we don’t ignore what they suffer during the year of the pandemic.    4    . It is beneficial to your children’s mental health.

    5    . Being positive and encouraging goes a long way, especially after the challenges that we’ve all battled through this year. Whenever there’s an opportunity to praise them’ take it! And make sure you catch them doing good! The more positive you are about their education and happiness, the better they will be.

6 . Eden Gross wants kids to know that they’re not alone when they feel afraid. “I get fearful sometimes,” said the Florida fourth-grader, who has often been drawn to dark stories. At age 8, Eden started writing songs to deal with her fears. Last month, she released (发行) her first song, “Shadows on the Wall.” It’s for kids everywhere who have problems with mental (精神的) health. The point of the song is that the fears “aren’t reality,” said Eden, now 10. “I am bigger than these fears.”

Eden began writing “Shadows on the Wall” in 2019 after attending the Throga Retreat, a youth singing program about two hours from her home in Parkland. There, she met Johnny Cummings, a New York-based singer, songwriter, and producer. After the program, the pair worked together each week through Skype. They finished “Shadows on the Wall” and a second song, “The Last Kid on Earth,” which centers on the idea that although each person is different, we all feel alone sometimes.

Eden wants more grown-ups to understand the influence of COVID-19 on children. “They’re used to running around, playing with their friends. Getting used to new realities was really hard,” Eden said.

Eden and her twin brother, Jordan, recently marked one year of distance learning (远程学习). It was unusual at first. They weren’t getting used to it and missed their days in school. “The Internet has become our whole world,” said Eden. “Technology has become our new way of connecting.”

One lesson from COVID-19, said Eden, is to “find a way to do what you love and be who you are, no matter the environment.” For Eden, that means spending time with the family’s pet, Ollie, and continuing to follow her dream of music and writing. She’s busy with her third song, “The Voices.” “It’s about judging (评价) yourself in your head when you say, ‘I’m not good enough,’” she said. “And then realizing, ‘I am good enough. I am good enough for me.’ ”